


I Won’t Climb Without You

by Jersey SEAL (PseudoAuthor)



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Actually no communication, Angst, Bromance/Preslash, Confused Team, Exasperated Danny, Gen, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Post-Episode: s06e25 O Ke Ali'i Wale No Ka'u Makemake (My Desire is Only for the Chief), Well-meaning but emotionally challenged Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:02:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26391610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PseudoAuthor/pseuds/Jersey%20SEAL
Summary: “You know, McGarrett’s going to find out eventually. When you pass, people are going to refer to you as Lieutenant. I know you like to think of him as oblivious, but even he’s not going to miss that.”
Relationships: Steve McGarrett & Danny "Danno" Williams, Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 20
Kudos: 250





	I Won’t Climb Without You

**Author's Note:**

> Just thought I'd start moving fic to one centralised location - this was a request from a couple years back that I posted to tumblr. 
> 
> Set post 6x25 as per the following request "Fic request: Danny finally takes and passes his Lieutenant exam after the events of 6.25. While he did it more for a sense of accomplishment (and hopefully better pay), Steve thinks he's trying to leave him and 5-0.".
> 
> Note, I don’t actually know anything about the police force, I tried researching but it’s inevitable that information will be wrong.

He’s gotten a lot of scars in his life. 

As a kid, he got into scraps faster than his mom could bandage him up. She’d pick him up by his armpits, drop a kiss on his nose and sigh about getting the band-aids. 

When he joined the force, well…scars came with the territory. Broken skin on his knuckles from fights, a split lip from being headbutted by a perp (and they’d always be taller than him, funny that…). There have been a few defensive knife wounds. Not to mention the gunshots wounds which piss him off to no end and either made him a ‘right bastard’ in Rachel’s words, or a ‘grumpy son of a bitch’ in Steve’s.

So yeah, he’s got scars, and with the passage of time, most of them have faded into nothingness or at the most resemble silvery lines or patches across his skin. 

But this one–

He’s almost dressed. He just needs to button up his shirt before dropping Grace off at school and going into work. He was fixing a cowlick in his hair before he looked down at his stomach and got distracted. 

The hair’s all grown back now. 

He places a fingertip on the red line that runs over where his fully regrown (the doctor checked) liver resides. The scar doesn’t look angry anymore, doesn’t even hurt all that much. 

“Danno, I’m gonna be late!” Grace yells from the kitchen. 

–this one annoys him.

* * *

“Why are you always doing something you shouldn’t?” 

Steve pushes the rest of the malasada into his mouth, his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk, and gives Danny what he guesses is meant to be a threatening glare. 

Danny inwardly rolls his eyes because _chipmunk_. “All I’m saying is you’re meant to be careful. Sugar and your meds babe, they don’t mix.” 

It’s just passed five months and honestly, Danny kind of hates Steve’s doctor for okaying his partner for half days. Steve swallows his mouthful and shrugs, tapping a pen against the edge of his desk. “I wanted sugar.” 

“He ‘wanted sugar’, he says.” Danny rests against the open door, his body instinctively settling in for a _lively discussion_ even though he has places to be. “Where was this before the transplant? Hell, I remember shopping with you. You kept swapping out all my cookies and pop-tarts for fruit and chia seed pudding cups. Thanks to you my daughter now buys those expensive monstrosities that claim to be pudding. That shit ain’t pudding.”

He really shouldn’t be so endeared to Steve’s ‘ _I have imparted my wisdom onto Grace’_ face. “They’re healthy Danno. Anyway, what’s up?” 

“I gotta go chase up a lead.” 

He sees Steve perk up. “Can I-”

“Ah-ah-ah!” Danny tuts, straightening up and shaking his head. “No Steve. Half days were on the condition you stayed in the office. You get to do your backlog of paperwork. I’ll see you in a bit. Don’t forget your meds.” 

Steve slumps, his eyes forlorn at being left behind. It almost breaks Danny’s heart. Key word here? _Almost._ “I won’t,” he replies dutifully. “Later, Danny.” 

* * *

He tries to glance at Meka’s empty desk as he goes through HPD in search of Duke. It’s always weird coming here. A lot’s gone down between HPD and Five-0. “Duke, you wanted to talk?” he says clapping Duke on the shoulder when he finds him by the printers. 

“Aloha, we’ll talk in here,” Duke says and leads Danny into an empty interrogation room. “Danny. You all set for the exam?” he asks, closing the door behind him. 

“As ready as I can be. I guess the recovery time was good for something did some more studying when I didn’t have the kids.” 

“You’ll be fine, this is the only part you had left to do. You know, McGarrett’s going to find out eventually. When you pass, people are going to refer to you as Lieutenant. I know you like to think of him as oblivious, but even he’s not going to miss that.” 

Danny sighs. 

* * *

Steve’s in the passenger seat next to him, skin slightly paler than usual. The doctors say that they need to change Steve’s medication. One of them is raising his blood pressure.

He can’t really pin the exact moment something shifted between them but he knows that something happened and it’s literally taking every fibre in his being not to blow a gasket. 

It’s been happening for a while now. Steve’s distancing himself from him and Danny doesn’t know what to do about it. He’s been racking his brains trying to figure out if he was more abrasive than usual, but if he was, Kono would’ve pulled him up on it.

He glances at Steve, trying not to late his annoyance colour his words. “You gonna tell me what’s going on? Or are we just going merrily live our lives in silence.” 

Steve doesn’t say anything, doesn’t even turn his head to look in Danny’s direction. The only indication that he heard is the slight clench of his jaw and the curl of his fist. 

Danny turns his eyes back onto the road and mutters, “Silence it is.”

* * *

“What’s going on between you two?” Kono asks bumping his hip. She skims her hands across her tablet making the mug shot appear on the big screen before him. He’d say thank you, but they’re way past that - they both know that the tech table just isn’t for him. 

“Nothing, obviously.” His counterpart is hidden away in his office, probably waiting until Danny leaves for his office before coming outside. Steve’s turned into an actual first grader. “For something to be going on between the two of us, that would imply some level of communication, or interaction. Do you see me interacting with Steve? Have you seen me talking to our almighty leader?” he finishes and taps at the screen angrily. 

“Right, you guys are totally fine,” she says plainly and shoots a look in Lou’s direction. 

Lou clears his throat. “Steve’s just been a bit more…” he trails off. 

“Sad puppy by himself, angry puppy around others,” Kono finishes for him. 

Lou shakes his head, mouth twisting in distaste. “Ah, yeah, not the exact words I was gunning for, but let’s go with that.” 

Ignoring the real issue for a moment, Danny smiles at Kono’s analogy. “Adam asked you to get a dog again?” 

She shrugs, her fingers automatically going to the ring around her neck. “He doesn’t want me to be lonely. But nice attempt at distraction.” 

He sighs. “Look guys. He takes a quick glance over to Steve’s office. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him, He won’t talk to me. I have resorted to yelling at him, just to see if I could get a rise, but he won’t give me anything.” 

“Maybe its the transplant - like psychological stress or something?” 

Lou hums in agreement. “Hey man, so when do you get your results?” 

Danny runs a search for bank account details. “Should be soon,” he says. “I’m pretty sure everything will run my way.” 

“Of course it will.” Kono hip checks him out of the way as she isolates a video feed, her mind tracking between their two active cases. “We should throw a party!” 

“For what? I’m not going anywhere.” 

“But it’s an achievement. We should at least celebrate.” 

“Steve can’t drink.” 

“Not everything requires alcohol.” Lou shoots her a knowing look. “Well, we can make this alcohol free, no worries brah. And you should tell him. He’d be proud of you.” 

“No offence Kono, but you are seriously overestimating the importance of this promotion.” Shaking his head, Danny speeds up the video pausing as he gets a visual on the licence plate number. Kono pulls up the description of the getaway car from Danny’s case and grins. They have a match.

* * *

“Danno, did you pass?” Grace asks as she barrels through the front door. 

From where he’s lying on the floor - Charlie attempting to balance his teddy bear on his stomach - he smiles and turns his head as carefully as possible so he does not displace Mr Ted. “Yes, I passed. Looks like your old man could still be a bookworm if he wanted to.” 

“Pizza to celebrate?” 

“Sure.” He reaches out and grabs Charlie, tickling him thoroughly. “You want pizza kiddo?” From somewhere in Charlie’s shrieking he thinks he hears a yes. 

“Grace you know the order?”

“Yep!” 

“What do we not want?” he asks his son. 

“Pineapples!” Charlie shouts.

* * *

“Sir, you wanted to see me?” 

“Detective, thank you for coming in on such short notice.” Danny takes the seat offered to him. 

He’s not really sure what he’s doing here. He thought there was evidence to be picked up but Nelani who handles the output of logged evidence said that there was nothing for him. 

“Have a good weekend?” the HPD captain asks. 

“Nice enough. Sorry, what am I doing here?” 

“I just wanted to know when I can expect your paperwork.” 

Danny’s mind blanks. “My paperwork?” 

“McGarrett, gave you the okay for the transfer didn’t he? We’ve been needing a new lieutenant, didn’t think you’d want in, but you passed and got promoted, and McGarrett said–” 

The static in Danny’s mind cuts out abruptly. “Steve okayed this?” He takes the envelope that slides across the desk and peaks into the official documentation.

“He said that it was what you wanted.” The captain gave Danny a calculating look. “I take it you weren’t aware. Look,” he continues, either unaware that Danny’s experiencing the symptoms of an apoplectic fit, or simply not giving a shit. “If you get the paperwork in by Wednesday morning, we can have you starting by Thursday at the earliest. If you want you can start fresh on the following Monday.” 

“I’ll get back to you,” Danny manages and walks quietly out of HPD. 

* * *

He has no idea what he’s doing until he stops at the door of Five-0. 

He sees Steve facing the computer screens, Chin and Lou on either side of him. 

On any other day, this would be a normal sight. 

It isn’t though. 

He pushes the glass doors open, striding angrily towards them and shouts, “You son of a bitch!” 

Steve turns around just in time to see him thrust the envelope against his chest. Danny presses his hand in keeping him Steve in place and uses his body to trap Steve against the tech table. 

He didn’t punch Steve, go figure. He was sure that he was going to punch him.

He senses Kono come out of her office, catches sight of Lou and Chin coming already trying to move him back. 

“Danny,” Steve says quietly as if he can play this just right. Like soothing tones, and a gentle demeanour can stop the hurt inside of Danny’s chest and placate the betrayal that’s now overlayed upon Steve’s image. 

“No, you listen here. _Commander,”_ he snarls and finally takes a step away from him. “If you have a problem with me or my work, you come to me. After six years you’d think that I’d have earned, oh I don’t know, how about some respect? Or, professional fucking courtesy?”

“Hey, Danny, what’s going on?” Kono asks warily.

“This morning I get called down to HPD, so I go, thinking it’s case related because why else would I have to go there? I mean, I already have a job right - with Five-0. But get this, I go there and the captain says hi, asks about my weekend, then asks whether I’ll have my end of the paperwork done by Wednesday.” 

“Paperwork?” Lou queries.

“To sign off on becoming one of HPD’s newest Lieutenants.” 

Steve stares him down hard. 

“You’re leaving? I thought you were going to stay on after you passed?” Chin asks. 

“I was.” 

Three confused expressions turn to Steve.

Steve’s mouth drops open. “You knew?” And joy, _aneurysm face number seven._

Kono comes up behind Danny, and puts a hand on his shoulder sending a disbelieving look in Steve’s direction. “You fired him?” 

The stubborn set of Steve’s jaw remains, but the tone of his voice softens, coming out slightly unsure. “I thought it was what you wanted.” 

“You what?” says Danny. 

“You…you passed your Lieutenants exam.” 

“So?” 

“I thought you wanted to go back to HPD? And I figured, I mean, if you wanted to go, I mean, handling all your transfer paperwork - it was the least I could do.” 

“The least you could…” Danny stops and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Jesus, you fucking…lug nut.” Kono snickers. “Shut up, Kono, I’m still trying to process Commander Shoot First, Ask Questions Never’s thinking here.”

“Danny?” 

“My office, now Steven. Team, if you’ll excuse me.” He takes a hold of Steve’s shirt sleeve and pulls him into his office. Shutting the door behind him, he finally lets go and makes his way to his desk, tidying up random bits of paper while Steve shifts from one foot to another. 

Finally, he leans against his desk, arms crossed in an attempt to stop himself from maiming his partner. Steve stands in the middle of his office, hands resting limply by his sides. 

Danny would tell him to sit down, but this is one of those conversations where Steve’s going to fidget. “Keone,” Steve blurts out before Danny can open his mouth. “I overheard her talking to Duke and he said that you’d been preparing for ages.” 

Danny tries to restrain himself from yelling and calmly manages to respond with, “I have been.” 

For a split second, Danny catches something akin to hurt flash through Steve’s eyes before it’s replaced with his SEAL stare. “Since we were put into mandatory counselling?” 

_Jesus,_ Danny thinks. They’ve had problems yes, it sounds Steve really think that he’s been looking for an out for that long. “What? No! Since I found out that Charlie was mine.” 

The stare dies quickly at those words, Steve’s posture slackening ever so slightly. He just looks confused now. “Oh,” he says lamely in a way that’s probably meant to convey that he gets it.

From his position, Danny sighs, and finally uncrosses his arms, rubbing a hand across his eyes. “Don’t say that like you understand my reasons Steve, because your face, babe? Expressive remember.” He steps towards Steve and manoeuvres him onto the couch before spinning one of his chairs around so that their face to face. “Why did you fire me?” 

“I didn’t fire you, Danny!” Steve exclaims, his eyes wide. “I already explained.” 

Danny puts his hands out. “Okay, fine, how about I tell you my reasons for taking the exam, and you tell me whatever you need to.” 

Steve leans back. “Fine.” 

“First reason, and the most practical reason, I figured that it’d bump up my salary.” It’s best that he starts there because it’s something Steve can’t dispute. “Child support isn’t cheap, and I’ve got Charlie now.” 

“If you needed money I could’ve-”

“I know but I wanted to do this right. No interrupting. Reasons two and three.” He braces himself for what he’s about to say resting his forearms on his knees. He doesn’t know how much detail he should go into here. “After Matt, and Colombia, I needed a distraction. This was my distraction. Also, I wanted to do it. In Jersey, I’d be getting close to Captain.” 

Steve snorts. “You hate bureaucracy.” 

“What did I say about interrupting? And yes I hate the politics but I’m just saying I needed…something for me. In the grand scheme of things it sounds trivial but I needed a win. Reyes took my brother away, and Rachel took my kid away - I know I have him now, but three years Steve. I wanted something that no one could take away from me. Now your turn.” 

Steve licks his lips and picks at imaginary lint on his cargo pants. Danny thinks that they’ll be waiting in silence for a while but Steve surprises him by saying, “But what if they want to go away?” 

It takes Danny a second to pull all the pieces together because they’ve gone from things to people and Steve’s staring at him, all earnest and small like he’s been waiting for the other shoe to drop. “I’m not going anywhere,” Danny says. “But you closing off, pulling the whole ‘I’ll leave you before you leave me’ was a shitty thing to do.”

Steve's eyes grow defiant at Danny’s words. 

“No, really, Steve. Partners. It’s been six years and I’m still here. I’ve gotten beat up, I’ve gotten shot, and I’ve visited parts of the world that I really had no desire to go to and yet, _I’m still here_.” 

Steve leans forward, shoulders slightly hunched in, his voice low as if he’s revealing a secret. “With the plane crash, and the transplant,” the words are delivered carefully, frustration evident in his voice, “I figured, I took more than you wanted to give. I was trying to…give back - so you’d get what you want.” 

What is he supposed to say to that? “Come here,” he croaks out, standing up and pulling Steve along with him. “You–my god–” he lets out impotently. He has no words. 

“Danny?” Steve asks cautiously. 

He wraps his arms around Steve and squeezes tightly. “What’s gooier than a marshmallow?” he asks, chin hooked over Steve’s shoulder. “Seriously, what, because whatever it is, you are it. Don’t get me wrong, you were totally misguided and went about this like a grenade-throwing toddler, which you are anyways so I shouldn’t have been surprised.” He pulls back, and _shit_ , hastily scrubs a hand over his eyes. 

Steve frowns.“Danno?” 

Danny laughs wetly, his hands moving down to hold Steve’s waist. “Okay, listen carefully to me Steven. You don’t owe me anything.” He squeezes once. “There is no competition here. You do not need to make it up to me.” 

The tension in Steve evaporates. Danny can feel it through his arms. “Alright,” he murmurs. 

“I will always be with you,” he reiterates quietly, and he moves his fingers to where Steve’s matching scar should be located. “In your case, literally,” he says with a huff. 

Steve grins at him. “Yeah.” 

“Yeah,” Danny parrots. “So now that we’ve sorted this out. Do you think you can sort out my little situation? Otherwise, I start Thursday.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :)


End file.
